Core Equine Diseases Can Be a Death Sentence

The threat of deadly equine diseases like rabies is closer than you think. Vaccines can help protect your horse.
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Core Equine Diseases Can Be a Death Sentence
Courtesy Zoetis
By Kevin Hankins, DVM, MBA, senior technical services veterinarian for Zoetis

The threat of deadly equine diseases like West Nile and rabies is closer than you think. Don’t leave your horse exposed. Help protect him with annual vaccinations against the five core equine diseases.

Eastern and Western Equine Encephalomyelitis

Eastern equine encephalomyelitis (EEE) and Western equine encephalomyelitis (WEE) are viral diseases that attack your horse’s nervous system. The risk of exposure to the virus varies from year to year with changes in the distribution of mosquitoes as well as birds and rodents that serve as virus reservoirs, but all horses are potentially at risk.

Rabies

This equine neurologic disease is caused by a virus in the saliva of infected animals, usually transmitted through a bite. Once inside the horse, the rabies virus travels up the nerves to the brain, where the disease progresses rapidly and is always fatal. As a zoonotic disease, rabies presents a risk of disease transmission to humans. Annual vaccination is critical to help protect horses and those who care for them

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